Death's Lacky
by grayfoxmg1
Summary: Harry has just sacrificed his life in order to destroy Riddle's last horcrux. At a crossroads for his life where he can choose either to go back or continue to the afterlife, what happens when a third option is thrust upon him. X-over with: Naruto, Metal Gear, Ace Combat, Mass Effect, Dragon Age, and more. Accepting cover images(seriously I can't even draw stick people).
1. Chapter 1

****Chapter 1: A Job Interview with Death****

"So you see Harry, you have a choice. You can continue onward or you can go back" concluded Dumbledore.

The Harry he was talking to was a young man with unruly black hair, emerald green eyes, and a distinctive scar in the shape of a lightning bolt. He was known as Harry Potter; youngest seeker in a century, and the Boy-Who-Lived. The reason he was called the Boy-Who-Lived was because when he was but a year old, an evil wizard attack the home where Harry's family was hiding. He killed both Harry's parents, but when he tried to complete the deed by killing Harry something impossible happened. The killing curse rebounded off of Harry and struck the wizard, destroying his body.

You heard correctly, I said wizard. For in this world there are more than the normal people and creature the likes of which you and I are accustomed to. There is also a secret society living parallel to our own consisting of many types of magical persons and beings. Forever hidden among us, yet rarely ever interacting with us, these people are commonly referred to as Wizards and Witches. There are in fact other classifications used in this society for different cases, but as of now, it does not behoove us to speak of them.

In this world where you are just as likely to see a person flying atop a broom as you would a unicorn, Harry Potter is a young wizard that is famous around the world for something he had no control over. The whole world knows what happened on that night, even though the only people still alive that were present are Harry and the evil wizard that started it all, Lord Voldemort. Though that is not his given name, it is one that was created to strike fear into the hearts of thousands. He was so successful that apart from the two gentlemen we see talking, the rest of their society commonly refers to Voldemort as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, or You-Know-Who.

But I am sure; you have heard this story before. What we are witnessing is two wizards, both famous; one for his deeds and killed at just over a century and a half old, and the other for something beyond his control with his life seemingly ended before he even reached adulthood. I say seemingly for you see, in the magical world very few things are as they seem. Right now, both wizards are conversing in a seemingly limbo-like world where Harry has the choice to continue to his afterlife and reunite with all of his departed friends and family, or he can return to the war-torn world and finish his destined task of defeating Lord Voldemort.

Just as we are about to hear Harry's decision, he is interrupted by someone whom one originally anticipated meeting, and the other had no inkling would be present.

"I will….." Harry began.

"Listen to my counter offer" finished a third voice from the side.

When the wizards turned at the voice they beheld 5 figures in hooded cloaks ranging in color from white to black, with shades of grey in-between.

"And who are you?" questioned Albus Dumbledore, as he observed the new comers.

"We are the people that he would've seen had Harry choose the other option" answered the central figure as they lowered their hood revealing a cascade of red hair above green eyes of the same shade as Harry's.

"Mum!?" came the strangled question from Harry's throat as the other figures lowered their hoods revealing their identities to the two wizards. To Lily Potter's left was a man with the same crazy black hair as Harry, and hazel eyes behind glasses eerily similar to his son's. To his left was a man with a shaggy mane of black hair with haunted grey eyes, which still withheld a mischievous glint. To Lily's right was a man with a salt and pepper hair style that looked far older than he should, but still had gentleness within his brown eyes. Next to him was a woman with short pink hair, and purple eyes that held just as much mischievousness as the man standing her opposite.

"James, Sirius, Remus, Nymphadora it is good to see you all again" greeted Dumbledore as he watched the reunion taking place in front of him, as the Potter family was reunited again.

"But what are you all doing here?" came the muffled question as Harry was still attempting to squeeze the non-existent life out of them all as he was reunited with his family.

"We were sent as messengers" responded Nymphadora Lupin as her hair changed from its bubblegum pink to a more somber blue as she was both happy to see him and sad for what was going to happen.

"Messengers? For who?" came the confused question as Harry finally calmed down, though it is to be noted he was still holding onto his mother rather tightly.

"For death" was the flat reply given by Sirius Black as he beheld his godson again, and yet regretted seeing him so soon.

"Death? But what would he want from me?" was the slightly scared response.

"Sadly, quite a lot my son" was the sad response from James.

"You see Harry, when you disarmed Draco Malfoy you won the allegiance of not only his wand, but also the Elder Wand. Combine that with possessing the Resurrection Stone for most of the year, and having the Invisibility Cloak for as long as you did, you became the 'True' master of death. As such when you were killed that created enough of a window for him to personally get involved" was the explanation from Remus.

"That combined with how Voldemort has managed his horcruxes gives him an opportunity to interact with the mortal world. You see despite a horcrux splitting the creator's soul in half, magic strives for equality. So though when he created his diary his soul was split in half with half in him and the other with the diary, when he created his ring horcrux magic intervened to distribute his soul equally with a third in the diary, a third in the ring, and the final third in himself. This continued through the creation of his other horcrux's until just recently when he created his seventh. You see there is no 'true' way for something to be split into seven equal pieces. There will always be a piece a little larger, than the others, even if it isn't discernible" continued Nymphadora.

"When a horcrux is destroyed that part of the soul comes here to wait for the rest, so that they may reform and be collected by death. So when his last horcrux is destroyed, right now" unknown to either Harry or Dumbledore the horcrux in Nagini was just destroyed by Neville Longbottom. "Death now has access to more of Voldemort's soul than he does. That combined with the slight paradox of 'The Master of Death' being killed by his own wand allows Death to intervene slightly" finished his father.

"But what does he want from Harry?" worried Dumbledore, as he tried to think of the implications this held for the prophecy.

"Are you familiar with the multiple universe theory?" was the returned question from Lily.

"No" "A little" were her two responses.

"You've heard of this before?" was the question Dumbledore directed at Harry.

"Only as it is demonstrated within the media, a couple of Dudley's comic books had stories were they went into alternate universes. From what I gathered the theory is that every decision and every act of chance are actually separations and creations of new universes. An example of that is if I hadn't met Draco Malfoy than in theory I wouldn't have hated Slytherin House and might have been sorted there" was Harry's reply.

"Harry if I was still a Professor I would award points for an answer that both explains and gives an example that easy to follow" was Remus Lupin's proud statement.

"That makes things slightly easier to explain" began Lily, "you see despite there being multiple universes there is only one Death. Some of these universes are so similar that the only difference could be that we changed your middle name from James to Sirius. But other universes are so drastically different that there may not even be magic, and the entire planet could've developed differently."

"Lil's you still haven't told them what Death wants" interrupted James.

"I was getting to that, if you would just give me a chance to speak" retorted Lily.

"But you are taking forever" he whined.

"If you think you can do better, than you are more than welcomed too."

"Aww come on Lil's I didn't mean that….." continued the argument.

"While the love birds keep arguing let me fill you in on the rest" stated Sirius with an amused look in his eye. "Apparently, the rule about Death not interfering is pretty universal. Heh get it universal, because we are talking about universes" chuckled Sirius.

"Can you be serious for once in your life" groaned Nymphadora, before she realized what she said. "And if you make a crack about 'serious Sirius' or how your life is over, I'll come over and beat you so hard you'll think there was an 'after-afterlife'" she threatened.

"Aww you're no fun" he pouted, "anyway, apparently Death is able to act here because your death muddled the rules. It seems that if the Master of Death is killed by his own wand before he ever touches it, it confuses things. Long story short, you don't officially exist anymore in the eyes of the powers that be" explained Sirius.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I DON'T EXIST" Harry shouted as he began to panic at what this would mean for not just his life, but the others.

"SIRIUS ORION BLACK WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO DO SCARING MY SON LIKE THAT! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO SEE IF I CAN GET MAGIC TO WORK HERE BY RUNNING THROUGH MY ENTIRE SPELL REPERTOIRE AT YOUR EXPENSE!" raged Lily.

"Always wondered where you got your temper from" mused Nymphadora.

"Anyway, yes you do exist. However the usual rules are a little bent right now. As you are mortal, you are able to go to a universe and do things that Death has wanted to, but she is unable to do. But, when you die you will go through the same judgment we all do, which will determine where you go" continued James as he watched his wife attempt to beat some sense into his surrogate brother.

"Death wants a champion for her uses, and you've been nominated. Being Death and existing everywhere and every when at once, she is able to manipulate time and space in such a way, that while you spend anywhere from a week to years in her service, nothing more than a week shall pass in your universe. She realizes what this must feel like for you so she has promised to offer you any help and favors she can. What she will do is send all of our spirits down with the ability to be seen and heard so that we can retrieve what is left of Voldemort's soul" was the solemn summation of his situation provided by his father.

"I've noticed that you've referred to Death as both a male, and a female" pointed out Dumbledore.

Tonks took this question, "We've been made 'aware' is the best word, about what form Death is in. You see as a greater power he can assume any form he wants whenever he needs to personally retrieve a soul or do an explanation in the afterlife."

"Back onto the subject at hand, if you choose this option, than we will need both you and Dumbledore to return we us in spirit form to retrieve Voldemort. One thing he got right is that 7 is a very magical number" interjected Remus.

"These things Death needs me to do, they aren't bad are they?" was the slightly hesitant question from Harry.

"Sadly some are, but they always work towards a good goal. As Professor Dumbledore can relate, sometimes bad things must happen for good goals to be achieved" was Lily's depressed response. At Harry's look Dumbledore gave a sad nod.

"I'll do it, I may not have liked being forced to save our world, but that was mostly due to never being given a choice, because I ultimately think I would have chosen to do so anyway" was Harry's firm response.

"We know Harry, that's what makes you so special; Not that you do things because you must, but because you can and don't see a reason not too" Sirius stated with a proud look in his eye.

"We should go" started James, "oh and Harry"

"Yes?"

"Once we're done, Death will want to speak to you" he finished.

****Scene Change****

Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, once an awe inspiring and comforting place too many a students was currently in a horrendous state. The once strong and sturdy castle walls were riddled with holes and cracks. The huge, but welcoming, wooden doors which led to this safe haven of learning was blown apart. The grounds; which would be filled with soft luscious grass in the Spring and Summer, a multitude of fallen leaves during the Fall, and blanketed in snow during the Winter; was littered with holes and the bodies of those whom had fallen during this conflict. Near the stone steps, which led towards the entrance hall normally frequented by students, was a large group of people. On one side stood the Death Eaters, leading a chained Hagrid carrying a body. In the front of the Death Eaters stood their Lord and Master, Tom Marvolo Riddle, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort. On the other side stood the remains of the forces of the light; comprised by the remaining members of the Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore's Army, and the teaching staff of Hogwarts.

"You'll never win!" shouted a tall redheaded teen.

"Yeah Harry will beat you!" concurred a bushy haired girl.

This just caused the Dark Lord to laugh. A laugh which was soon taken up by the rest of the Death Eaters, much to the discomfort of the light side.

"You poor poor mudblood, you don't get it do you?" Lord Voldemort questioned with a sneer. "You've already lost, your _precious_ boy-who-lived is already dead!" he finished with a triumphant smirk on his face.

The reactions at this news where mixed. Some people look enraged, others look depressed; still some looked defiant; as if they refused to believe such a thing.

"Liar!" shouted two people. The first was a sandy haired young man holding a blood-stained sword. The second was a blonde that normally possessed a dreamy look to her face. I say normally because right now it only held anger and defiance.

"Oh so you don't believe me?" Lord Voldemort questioned in a mocking tone. "Then perhaps we should return your savior to you" he finished with a pointed look at his minion that was closest to the half-giant Hagrid.

"You're free to go half-breed, for now" the nearest Death Eater said, while muttering the last.

Hagrid slowly walked over towards his peers. Carefully so as to not disturb his, in his mind, precious cargo. As he neared the group, they could see that he was holding what appeared to be a body and crying heavily. What caused some of the before mentioned defiant members of the group to feel a pang of dread in their heart was that the body appeared to be that of a teen.

"Hagrid who is that?" was the hesitant question from one Hermione Granger.

Slowly Hagrid leaned down to place the corpse on the ground. As he stood up and moved away, the body was revealed to be that of a young man. But what caused the resistance's hearts to drop was that the young man had messy black hair, wire-frame glasses, and a famous lightning bolt scar on his forehead.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO" wailed the young Miss Granger. This sparked murmurs of disbelief and sorrow on the side of the light, and barely muffled shouts of joy and victory on the side of evil.

"Now do you see" Lord Voldemort began, "do you see how pointless it is for you to resist? But I am not a cruel person, thus I give you the chance to live. Merely kneel before me and pledge to serve me for the rest of your life."

"Never!" was the firm reply.

"Who dares to defy Lord Voldemort!" the Dark Lord snarled. Instead of an answer he witnessed a young blonde girl step forward.

"Oh and what makes you believe you can refuse me?" he questioned with a mixture of curiosity and anger.

"Because he's not dead yet" she answered.

"10 points to Ravenclaw Miss Lovegood" a grandfatherly voice answered shocking everyone.

There before them all was the spirit of one Albus Dumbledore, former Headmaster of Hogwarts and one of the only people to ever best Voldemort in a duel.

"It seems that even in death you are an insane fool Dumbledore" the Dark Lord responded once he got over his shock.

"I don't see why your so surprised of that" called another voice.

"Well if it isn't the half-breed and his blood traitor wife" sneered the senior Malfoy when he beheld the specters of the Lupin's.

"Can you even be a blood-traitor without any blood" questioned an amused Sirius Black, making his presence known.

"Sirius!? Oh god Sirius they got Harry I'm so sorry" sobbed Minerva McGonagall in a rare showing of emotion.

"I think that might be more shocking than us suddenly manifesting as spirits." "James! Be nice." Joked one voice before being chastised by another.

"You? So I suppose you're here to retrieve your son?" Lord Voldemort questioned with a degree of smugness.

"They already have" answered the newly arrived spirit of Harry Potter. "Luna, when this is over with can you keep an eye on my body?" Harry requested of the now shocked blonde.

"Why are you asking me?" she asked.

"Because you're the only one I can trust to keep the wrackspurts away from it" Harry responded with a wink and a grin.

"Of course I'll protect it" she answered with a blush.

"Done? What could you possibly do to me boy? In case it's escaped your notice, you're dead" was Lord Voldemort's sarcastic response to the conversation.

"It's quite simple really, all I have to do is keep you still" Harry responded as the rest of his family surrounded the half-blooded terrorist.

When they had gotten into position Harry's family was surrounding Voldemort with equally sized spaces between them, while Dumbledore moved outside of the circle leaving Harry as the only being inside with the Dark Lord. At some unseen signal, they sprang into action. First Harry literally dove into his body, temporarily possessing it, at least as one can possess themselves. Then Dumbledore released a strange pulse of magic forcing everyone out of the circle and giving them some clearance. Before any of the Death Eaters could react, Harry's family all raised their hands towards each other connecting them to each other via strands of magic. If one were to look down at the event, they would see a pentagram with a member of the extended Potter family serving as the vertices, while Harry and Voldemort were in the middle. Once the symbol had been created a golden cage of light appeared above the two wizards reminding them of a similar event that took place a few years ago.

Suddenly Lord Voldemort moved, attempting to curse our young hero. However he forgot a few things, one being that, as far as he knew, Harry was already dead. The second being just how close the two were standing. Finally Lord Voldemort forgot that with youth comes reflexes and speed generally faster than one of his age, horcruxes or not. Thus that is how Lord Voldemort found himself physically restrained by a not quite dead teenager, while spirits of the boy's family held a shield that prevent him from receiving aid from his followers.

"Release me!" snarled the Dark Lord.

"I don't think so Tom" retorted Harry.

"Foolish boy, you cannot finish me without releasing me or without a wand."

"Remember what I said? I just have to hold you still"

"To what end?"

"So I can finish you myself" interrupted a raspy voice, causing all to look in its direction.

What they saw scared the grand majority of the present magic users possibly more than the self-titled Dark Lord. For standing, or rather floating, just within the boundary of the cage was a figure wearing a tattered black cloak with the hood pulled up so that it cast a shadow over the person's face. The voice while raspy, gave no indication of sex, nor did the figures physical appearance as the cloak was loose and fluttered in the wind. But perhaps what frightened the mages the most was the gleaming scythe it carried. With a blade devoid of imperfections, and an ebony handle so dark it appeared as it made of shadow, it was a rather simple weapon which provoke profound fear in the hearts of those who witnessed it.

"What trickery is this?" questioned Lord Voldemort with no small amount of fear in his voice. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"I am the courier of souls between the planes, I'm the one whom is universally respected, and I am your damnation!" the figure finished with an ominous voice.

"Impossible, I am immortal" Lord Voldemort stuttered in fear, shocking many on both sides.

"The Diary," "The Ring," "The Cup," "The Locket," "The Diadem," "The Snake," "My Scar;" one by one, each of the spirits listed Lord Voldemort's horcruxes. Which each item, Voldemort seemed to grow paler and sicklier.

"That means that you, Tom Marvolo Riddle, are mortal" stated Death.

"Please, I'll give you whatever you want. I'll do anything" begged the most feared wizard in history.

"Anything?" mused Death as he slowly approached Lord Voldemort.

"Yes" he nearly sobbed.

"Then I would like for you to, SUFFER FOR ALL ETERNITY!" he boomed as he appeared to physically tear Voldemort's soul from his body.

"NOOOOOOOO!" the soul wailed as it was consumed in flames.

With the deed done, the Potter family slowly relaxed as the golden shield disappeared. Slowly the reality of Lord Voldemort's demise settled in causing the side of the light to spring to action stunning the Death Eaters before they could regain their wits. As this was happening no one noticed as Harry Potter slowly approached Luna Lovegood.

"Thank you for agreeing to watch my body" he said.

"Of course what type of friend would I be if I didn't" she replied. Unsure of how to answer her, Harry opted to instead give her a hug. Though startled by the action, it didn't take long for her to reciprocate in full.

"How long will you be gone?"

"I was told that to you all here only a week will pass, but I'm not sure if I believe that's possible"

"How long will it be for you?"

"Weeks? Months? Years? Decades? I'm not sure"

"Well then I better give you something to remember me by."

"I would never forge-mmph" he was cut off by Luna leaning up and meeting his lips with hers.

After a few minutes of kissing, they reluctantly broke the kiss. With their foreheads resting against each other's no words were said, and none were needed. Regretfully, they realized that they could not stand there all day, so they separated.

"Well Pup, who's the blonde?" came the mischievous question making them jump out of their skins, literally in Harry's case. This of course caused everyone who witnessed it to start laughing.

"Damn it Sirius, did you have to do that?" pouted Harry. "This is Luna, I met her in my 5th year, and she was with me when we tried to save you from the ministry. She's also the one I took to Slughorn's party which made it the best date I've ever had" Harry finished staring into Luna's eyes trying to convey his sincerity.

"Aww my baby's such a sweetheart" Lily cooed. "How come you don't say sweet things like that anymore?" she asked as she smacked James whom had been making obnoxious kissing sounds.

"As amusing as this is" cut in Death, "we need to get going."

"One second, KREACHER!" Harry yelled.

"Master called for Kreacher?" the elf asked as he popped into being in front of the group.

"Yes, I want you to take Luna and my body somewhere safe, and protect and care for them. Listen to her orders as if they were mine" Harry ordered.

"It shall be done" Kreacher replied before he carried out his task as Harry and Luna shared one last look.

"I'm ready" Harry announced once they were gone.

"Then let us depart" responded Death.

****Scene Change****

As Harry looked around he realized that he was back in the limbo between life and death. As he turned to ask why they were back here, he noticed that his family's forms were slowly fading away.

"What's happening?" Harry exclaimed as he rushed to his mother, only to fall right through her.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but now that we're done we have to go back" Lily sadly replied.

"But why? There's so much I wanted to say, so much I wanted to know about you" Harry choked out as tears began to stream down his face.

"Shhhhh its okay honey, we'll have all the time in the world when you're done" she comforted as she poorly hid her own tears. "For now, just live your life to the fullest, we can talk once you are here to stay."

"But if you show up before you've lived as long as possible, I'll show you why I was an Auror captain" James threatened lightly as he held his crying wife.

"Remember Pup, we're always with you, just as we always have been" Sirius said as he moved to stand by Harry's parents.

"We're proud of you Harry, no one else could do half of what you have" Remus added his sentiments.

Sitting there staring at his family as they slowly faded out of view, Harry had never felt such a strange combination of love and loneliness as he did at that moment.

"Harry?" Nymphadora started, "can you do me a favor?"

"Sure Tonks, whatever you want." Harry answered.

"Harry, we're family you can call me Nymphadora" she gently rebuked him. "Just do one thing for me, live. It won't be good if you focus so much on the job at hand, and forget to enjoy your life." With that, the family faded out of sight. The only evidence that they were ever there being the echoed question of, "Why can he call you Nympha-OW!"

"Sorry about that" Harry stated with a small chuckle at his godfather's antics.

"If you're done, we can move this to my office" Death said in a neutral tone.

"What do you mean your off- oh well I guess that answers that" Harry started to ask, only to realize he was now in what appeared to be a lawyer's office, complete with desk, leather chairs, bookshelves and a mini-bar. Harry watched in fascination as Death deposited his scythe on a rack that held various others of different shapes. When Death removed his cloak Harry braced him for a skeletal being, or one that caused nightmares to plague him for the rest of eternity. What he didn't expect was a young woman with a modest figure and wavy black hair. Other than the Egyptian ankh tattooed over her eye, there was nothing particularly striking about the woman other than her attractiveness and the sense that she could crush him like a fly.

"Something wrong?" she asked with an amused glint in her eye.

"No not really I just wasn't expecting you to look so..." he trailed off trying to think of a way to say it without being insulting.

"Human?"

"Yeah"

"Normal?"

"Yeah"

"Attractive?"

"Yeah, wait I mean" he sputtered in embarrassment. This seemed to be too much for her, and caused her to start laughing. "But what do you really look like? My parents said that you didn't have a form and could change it at will."

"Well they are correct, I'm just rather fond of this form this century, however when I need to make appearances with large crowds I usually use the cloak, or change to a more intimidating form. That reminds me, can I have it back?"

"Have what back?" he asked perplexed.

"My cloak"

"But I don't have your...Oh that cloak" he started before realizing what she was referring to. "Is there any way I can keep it, it's one of the few things I have that belonged to my dad."

"I'm sorry, but I would really like to have it back" she replied with what appeared to be regret in her voice. "But I will make you a deal if you give me it and the other 2 hallows."

"What type of deal?" Harry asked as he pondered what Death could give somebody.

"Sorry no reviving people, but I'll tell you more about the deal after I describe what your job will be" she said easily reading where his thought process was going.

"Okay" he easily agreed.

"First let me give you some information" she started. "Every entity and deity you've ever heard of, even the ones in what your world called fiction, actually exist."

"What, every one of them?" he blurted out before he could stop himself. "Then why has all these bad things in life happened if they exist? Aren't most of them supposed to be benevolent?"

"If you'll let me finish I can explain" she none too gently chastised him. "Now where was I, oh yes every one of them exist, but not in the same universe. I can see the question coming so just listen, what I mean is that every universe has one deity in charge of them. But every universe cluster has their own pantheon, understand?"

"Sort of, what's a universe cluster?" Harry asked.

"It would be better to give you a representation" she said as she created a small ball of light. "This is your universe," she stated. She then created another hundred or so balls of light before combining them with the original one to create what looked like a mirror globe made of light, "This is your universe cluster." She then filled the room with identical balls of light, "this is your corner of the multiverse. On to why none of them ever helped, that has to do with which world's Harry Potter you are."

"You mean there are other Harry Potter's?" he asked confused.

"Yes every universe cluster starts out as identical, it is by the interference, or lack thereof of a universe's god which makes the differences" she clarified. "You see you as a concept, are very good at traversing universes, whether it is through circumstances outside of your control, or if you engineer it yourself. I believe there is even a version of you which has ascended to godhood. A sex god if I'm right?" she mused.

"Good joke, me a sex god" Harry stated as if having difficulty picturing it.

"Well of course I couldn't picture _you_ as a sex god, but that version of you has done a fairly good job" she stated. "Anyway, back to your explanation. While each cluster has its own pantheon, it also has one 'Death' which not only has their own universe to watch, but must also regulate the others. However as a 'Death' I'm not permitted to interact with the mortal world, thus these 'Death' worlds are seen as the control world. They all mature based on the beings within, they range from perfect Utopia's to worse than you're most creative description of Hell. It is with my universe, that I will eventually need your help with, as what will threaten my universe has the potential to spread to the others. If it succeeds in capturing this cluster it will give them a foothold to begin to spread."

"Okay I understand, you still didn't explain why my life was worse than other Harry's lives" Harry pointed out.

"Actually you're kind of par-for-the-course, there are countless 'Harry Potter's' that have a worse life, but there are a few whom have it better. The reason your life was the way it is because your cluster is governed, you could say, by a version of the Greek Pantheon. Your universe in particular was managed by Lahkesis, one of the 'sisters of fate.' As such, she enjoys setting things in motion and watching as the denizens attempt to persevere" Death explained.

"Great so my life was a movie for the enjoyment of a god" grumbled Harry.

"You're not too far off the mark there" Death stated with far too much enjoyment for Harry's taste. "Back to the matter at hand, my designated 'Death' universe was one that normally gives an attentive god trouble, as such by the time I realized the path it had set itself on, I started to search for a way for me to attempt to interfere. It was then, after spending immeasurable time searching possible outcomes of universe's, I discovered the loophole your universe would create. As you are rather universally driven to your goals, whether they be like yours to help people or like other, darker, versions to seek vengeance, you have one of the higher achievement ratio of the multitude of heroes" she told him.

"While that is nice to hear, am I going to be any help with the way that I am now?" queried Harry.

"No you would just be another corpse" was her blunt response.

"Oh well umm..." Harry was too sure how to respond to that.

"Sorry for being blunt, but I'm just trying to make you understand how serious this is. However, I honestly believe that if you have the proper training and experience then you will succeed" she soothed.

"Okay is there anything else you can tell me?" Harry asked.

"Nothing general, everything else you will learn is specific to each universe I send you too" she answered. "However, I would like to talk to you about the deal I want to make for the Hallows" she stated while standing and walking toward him. Once she was within arm's reach she grabbed him and teleported them elsewhere.

"Where are we?" he questioned while looking around. He appeared to be on an island in a tropical area, with a rainforest on the mainland. There was, what appeared to be, a dormant volcano.

"This is an area of the afterlife, normally reserved for gods or prophets. Part of the deal I'm going to make with you is that this place can be used for you and yours. There will be some instances where you will be in a universe for multiple years there. I'm assuming you will form some attachments. With this, when it is all said and done, you will be surrounded by all of your friends and family regardless of universe of origin" she offered. "I would also offer you to have your magic with you in every universe in combination with whatever skills or powers you need to fit in without raising suspicions."

Harry stopped his knee jerk reaction to refute the deal, in order to consider the pros of the deal. Not only would he gain a spot in the afterlife where he can comfortably spend his afterlife with his friends and family, he would also get new skills and have his magic to fall back on.

"I'll agree, if I can also keep all the skills and powers you bestow upon throughout my time as your avatar" he countered.

Death thought about the ramifications of that. While she didn't need the Hallows, they made her job easier. Also she had already planned to give him the island and let him keep his magic everywhere, so she was only going to have to do one thing to retrieve her Hallows. Honestly she would've been a bit disappointed in Harry if he hadn't have made a counter offer.

"I can agree to that" she decided while holding out her hand. Once Harry grabbed it the deal was made and the Hallows were teleported from wherever he had left them to her office. "Thank you for that, now I'm going to give you your first assignment. As every universe has their own god, I need to inform them that I am sending you to their universe beforehand so that they can make adjustments for what your influence will cause. So in an effort to both give me time to talk to them, and increase your strength and stamina, I'm going to leave you here as I talk to the first god. While I'm gone I expect you build your own house."

"How am I supposed to do that?" Harry questioned in disbelief.

"Simple, just think of it as playing with 'Lincoln Logs' on a bigger scale" she giggled as she answered his question. "But I'm not expecting you to perform a miracle yet, so I will leave you a machete and a map of the island to aid your efforts." After conjuring the stated items she phased herself back to her office, barely catching his put upon, "Thanks."


	2. Chapter 2

**** Chapter 2: Crouching Tiger struck by lightning bolt*****

_SLAM!_

"Now all of you shut-up and listen" Death screamed after she had launched her chair across the room. "You've all seen what will happen unless we can prevent it correct?" she questioned getting nods and other positive feedback. "You also know the rules about interference in another's universe."

"Exactly which is why I protest this course of action, you simply cannot go around adding extra heroes to the mix" was the opposing view of Hermes.

"But according to the rules he doesn't exist, thus I'm not moving anything anywhere" Death smugly shot back.

"Rules? RULES ARE WHAT CAUSED THIS IN THE FIRST PLACE!" he raged. "If you didn't have a non-interference rule than these issues wouldn't have even been created."

"I agree but try telling that to the 'Powers That Be Stupid'" she soothed getting chuckles from the assembled group. "Look no one here likes this situation, but unless we want to take the chance of all of creation being destroyed we need to work together."

"If he doesn't 'exist' then why do you need our help?" questioned Hera.

"Because of two things, the first and most important is that I don't want to seriously derail any of your plans more than necessary, by cooperating I give you the chance to work around this situation to the best of both our abilities. Second, though I can place items wherever I feel like it, regardless of the rules, we all know who he is and what possible effects he might have on your worlds. If we all work together, than we can send him to points of time in your universes that will be most accommodating towards this; if done properly then he will get the training and experience he needs, and will only have a minimal effect on your universe" Death rationalized.

"How do we know he can pull this off?" was the skeptical question from Aries.

"He's our only option at this moment" she answered.

"Why not provide him with a test?" queried Poseidon.

"What do you propose?" "What kind of test?" "Why even risk it" were the responses to this idea.

"SILENCE!" Death yelled. Once she was sure there would be no interruptions, she refocused on the God of Horses and the Sea. "I'm listening" was her neutral response.

"I think we should take him as is, sans any training but what he received at home, and drop him into one of our more 'unstable' universes and see how he does" was the Sea God's proposal.

Death was unsure of how to handle this. An 'unstable' world is one in which it's hero not only has the power to destroy it, but is only one 'push' away from snapping and performing the deed. While it would be extremely dangerous, it would also be an invaluable experience for Harry, while also working towards convincing the other gods.

"I agree with some conditions" she finally answered. This caused murmured bets to be passed around on whether or not her 'Champion' would survive.

"And they are?" Poseidon questioned with a raised brow.

"While you can choose the universe, I choose the time, age, and way to integrate him into the society" she started her bargaining. "I also request that once he has entered the universe it temporarily falls under my jurisdiction." She knew the last request was a double edged sword as, while it prevented the other gods from sabotaging his time there, it also prevented her from aiding him in anyway.

"Agreed" the brother of Zeus easily answered, for he knew that Death was actually correct and her 'Champion' was truly their best hope.

"I offer my universe for the lad" boomed the voice of Hephaestus.

Death mulled this over for a while. She knew a little about Hephaestus' universe. While it wasn't true for the whole place, the world in which the hero lived utilized an internal energy source to perform feats otherwise impossible. The society was also focused on blood and it's purity as it directly affected if one was able to harness the energy. The world also isn't inherently bad or good, so it over-all held a great amount of similarities to Harry's home universe.

But that's where the similarities ended. Compared to the Wizarding world, they were a great deal more physical. Moreover, they would appear as if to be stuck in the past even in comparison to the English magical society. They also focused more on physical prowess than money or intelligence to gain their influence. In the end though, it was her best option, and could've been a great deal worse.

"I thank you for your generosity Hephaestus" she said inclining her head slightly in respect. "Now that that is decided, when shall we start?" she asked the gathered pantheon.

"I certainly see no reason to delay" chimed in Zeus.

"Agreed brother, I cannot wait for the entertainment" Hades threw in.

"Than if that is all, I shall go and set everything up, and send my champion on his way" she said thru gritted teeth, as Hades had always annoyed her.

****Scene Change****

He had been on this island for 18 days. It had only taken him most of the first day to get a rudimentary shelter built. Despite the difficulty he didn't want to even imagine how much harder it would have been if he hadn't had the machete or map. He had also learned some wandless magic out of necessity. The first had been after he had killed his first meal. He had desperately tried to light a fire using the clichéd Boy Scout method of rubbing to sticks together. All he had succeeded in doing was breaking a few sticks, and filling his hands with splinters. Finally giving it up for a bad job, he had thrown the sticks down in disgust. When he took one last look at the fish he had caught on his homemade, or would it be island made, spear he waved dismissively figuring he could survive the weak on the pineapples, bananas, and coconuts. Imagine his surprise when a small fireball had launched from his hand catching the fish, spear, attempted campfire, and some of the surrounding bush on fire.

He chuckled as he remembered staring at his hand dumbly for a few minutes before the smell of smoke had broken him of his stupor and he worked to snuff-out the fire before he razed the whole forest. Once he ensured that he wouldn't be earning his title of arsonist, he sat down with a pineapple and a bundle of sticks determined to learn to do that at will. A popped blood vessel, some flatulence that would've made you think Buckbeak smelled good in comparison, and every curse word he knew uttered in English, parseltongue, and what little Gaelic he knew; he finally made another fireball. Unfortunately some of his earlier flatulence was still in the air, which immediately flash-flamed temporarily blinding him, burning a good deal of his shirt, and finally singeing off the majority of his bangs and eyebrows.

Funnily enough, this is what led to his second discovery of wandless magic. While staring at himself in the water he thought of how Sirius would've laughed his ass off and that if anyone ever saw him like this than he would never live it down, and he was amazed as he watched all of his hair grow back. All at once he realized that beside the one time his aunt had cut it, he had never had a haircut. With that realization, he sat and thought about what other things that a Metamorphmagus could do. Feeling that changing his nose into a pig's like Tonks had done was beyond him, he sat a worked on changing his hair length. In the end it took all of his free time for 2 days to finally change his hair. 'Free time' meaning whenever he wasn't hunting or working on his house.

So now Harry was sitting around his fire-pit in front of his small cabin, rapidly changing his hair color as he waits for some fish to cook. This was the scene that Death witnessed as she faded into being.

"You know, I've heard of tasting the rainbow, but not being the rainbow" she stated causing Harry to jump. More humorously was that when he was frightened his hair went from it previous royal blue to a chalk white.

"Did you have to do that" he complained as he concentrated slowly changing his hair from white to a sandy blonde and shortening it to about 3 inches of length.

"No but it was amusing" she answered. "Can I ask why blonde?"

"It keeps my head cooler during the day" he explained as he observed her walking around while examining his house.

"How was your stay?" she asked.

"Could have been worse, thanks for the machete by the way" he thanked her.

"Enough with the pleasantries, we have an issue" she stated getting down to business. "I am having difficulty getting the necessary support we need. Thus you are going to have to perform a test."

"What type of test?" he asked getting serious.

"One of the gods has volunteered a slightly more dangerous universe for you to use. This universe is what is called an 'unstable' universe. This means that the hero is powerful enough to eradicate their universe, and is only one more metaphysical push away from turning dark and doing just that. Your test is to integrate yourself into this society and help to keep him from doing just that" she explained.

"What kind of place is it?" he asked.

"I can't tell you a lot" she sounded regretful. "What I can tell you is that, it is a society based around people who can use an internal source of energy to perform deeds that normal people can't. They also are concerned with blood, but unlike your society they have a small reason for it."

"So they have magic?" he asked.

"Not exactly, another thing I will tell you is that you will be there for a few years" she clarified.

"How long is a few years?"

"I'm not sure, you will be retrieved when we are sure that their hero will not turn evil" she told him.

"How am I getting there?" he asked seemingly resigned to his fate.

"I will be dropping you in at the time that is the most influential to their hero" she told him.

"Do they at least speak English?"

"As far as you will be able to tell" she answered mysteriously.

"What do you..." was all he got out before she launched herself at him with glowing lips.

When their lips connected the one thought running through his mind was 'I'm being kissed by Death,' before his world was consumed by pain. His mind felt like it was melting, his mouth was filled with fire ants, his blood was made of acid, his eyes were made of shattered glass, and his bones were radioactive. When they separated, he found himself back in his 8yr old body. Before she sent him away, he noticed that there was an extra weight in his pants, which amazingly enough still fit.

"Make sure to take stock of your situation when you arrive" was her parting remark before he was hurled into the portal and towards an unknown fate.

****Scene Change****

Darkness was all he saw as he fell, time stood still, he was paralyzed, unable to move; all in all it was another form of magical transportation he hated. As he fell his pain never once abated. He could feel things changing within himself, but was unable to tell exactly what it was. Just when he thought he had been tricked and was resigned to falling into the darkness forever, things began to lighten up. Now while he wished he could see a light at the end of the tunnel that was only slightly true. For when he emerged it was not to a bright and cloud free day, but to a cold and mist covered night. Another thing he noticed was that he emerged next to a tree, or rather its top. He tried to grab a branch, to grab something to stop his fall, but his body still had not shaken of his portal induced paralysis. And so our protagonist could do nothing to stop himself from falling thru a tree and hitting, what felt like, every branch on the way down.

As he lay there in pain, he noticed he was staring into another set of eyes, eyes that were just a shade or two brighter green than his own. He directed his gaze over the rest of the face, and noticed it's decidedly male features. With an angular jaw, slim lips, slightly upturned nose, and wavy auburn hair it was a decidedly handsome face. The only thing to detach from the man's attractiveness was the blood and mud matted in his hair, and the fact his eyes were void of any life. As Harry allowed his eyes to observe the rest of the man, he soon discovered that all he was seeing was the head, as the body was nowhere within sight. Thinking his fall had given him a concussion he reached up to take his glasses off to clean them, to only discover they were not on his face. This combined with everything else that had happened upon arriving led to him to do what any normal 8yr old would do, he panicked. With a scream he scrambled away from the scene, ignoring the pain it caused him. With his eyes riveted to the decapitated head, he was unaware of where he was going, thus unprepared for what he would crawl into. Upon bumping into something and feeling something that was both slick and sticky on his hands he turned around, only to behold the sight of the man's body. Screaming in fright again he once more rapidly crawled away to rest against a nearby tree.

After taking a few minutes to regain his composure and allow his nearly 18yr old mind to override his 8yr old body's instincts, he thought about all he knew. He was in pain, a good deal of it. While he was covered in scratches and bruises, he felt that one of his ankles was strained, while a few ribs were cracked. However, he had dealt with worse, both at school and living with the Dursley's. Remembering Death's last words before he was pushed into what appeared to be a 60 foot fall, with the only saving detail being that his momentum was continually broken by tree limbs, he reached into the pocket of his now torn and blood stained pants to pull out a letter.

_Harry,_

_Sorry about the shove, and the fall, and the landing while I'm at it. I did not do this without purpose. I needed you to be in the state that I am sure you are, as it will help you in a few minutes. The man you are sitting in, if I got the time right, is a minor member from a small clan in Kirigakure no Sato or 'The village hidden in the mist.' It is the largest village in the land of water (which is where you are). His entire clan has been wiped out by the civil war Kiri is dealing with. In this war the village leader known as the 'Water Shadow' or Mizukage is killing everyone who possesses a bloodline, known as kekkei genkai. A bloodline is an ability that is passed down through a family; it is an ability that only members of that clan have a chance of performing. Now while being in a clan with a bloodline doesn't mean you have a 100% chance of developing it, if you have it you can bet somewhere in your linage that clan will appear._

_But I am getting ahead of myself; you are currently in the 'Elemental Nations.' It is a continent made up of 5 major countries and numerable smaller ones. Your current location of the Land of Water is one of the major 5. They are the land of Water, The land of Wind, The land of Earth, The land of Lightning, and The land of Fire. Each of these countries, along with some of the minor ones, is protected by a military force. This army, for lack of a better description, is made up entirely of ninja. Yes ninja, the warriors from Japan in your world. Except here not only are they trained in stealth and assassination, but possess what one would call super human abilities. They are able to utilize an energy which is said to be within every living thing in this universe. It is called 'Chakra' and while it rests within the earth, the trees, and the animals, if a person has enough they can train to be a ninja. Fearing the power of the other lands, each nation has a 'Ninja Village' in which rests the military leader. The leaders, the kage's I've already mentioned, are in charge of that nation's ninja forces. After years of being ninja, and the development; either through research and training, or evolution, ninja clans were created. Some are able to wield other elements and powers other ninja cannot, others have developed techniques and other jutsus that are only passed down through the family. A jutsu is a ninja art: they are named after that which they are categorized as. Taijutsu is the art of physical combat, Kenjutsu is the art of combat with a weapon, Genjutsu is the art of ninja illusions, Fūinjutsu is the art of sealing, and finally Ninjutsu is the art of ninja combat. The last category is where anything that does not fit into the others is categorized._

_Some bloodlines allow access to other forms of jutsu; some make it easier to learn certain techniques, while others have physical manifestation. A popular example of this is what are called Doujutsu which are jutsu involving the eye. Abilities such as a complete sphere a seeing, seeing through objects, copying attacks, and even manipulation of gravity are all possible through certain Doujutsu. Things belonging to clans which possess a bloodline are impossible to learn if you don't have it yourself. Thus they give ninja of these clans an edge in battle making them both envied and hated. The current Mizukage belongs to the latter group, and thus has ordered all non-bloodline ninja to kill anyone which are members of that clan on sight. I have made you one such kekkei genkai, which I call Emerarudo no Kaminari, or Lightning of Emerald. It will allow you to wield Lightning element aligned Ninjutsu easier and also allow you to use some that will only be available to someone with your blood. A side effect of this bloodline is that all of your lightning required Ninjutsu will become the same shade of green as your eyes._

_Back to the matter at hand, as you've noticed I've de-aged you back to when you were 8, as I expect this mission to last for quite a long time. Your objective is to find, and make contact with this universe's hero whom is called 'Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto.' He was born on October 10th and is your age. When he was born his father, the then Yondaime Hokage (or Fourth Fire Shadow) was forced to seal a being known as the Kyuubi no Kitsune, the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox. The Kyuubi was on a rampage and about to destroy his village of Konohagakure no Sato, meaning the Village hidden in the Leaves. While he was able to seal the Kyuubi, he was forced to seal it into his son, Naruto. Naruto is still living in Konoha, but without his father alive the village has ignored his last request to see him as the hero protecting them from the wrath of the Kyuubi, and instead treat him as the village pariah and have made multiple attempts on his life. While a few do truly care for him and tried to help him, it is limited to a small civilian family, a few of the ninja clans, and the Sandaime Hokage. But the Third Fire Shadow cannot always watch Naruto as he must run the rest of the village, thus Naruto is still beaten and abused whenever the old Sandaime is not around. This abuse will do one of two things, it will either; both harden him, and prepare him for the hard life that all hero's lead, or while he is enduring his life, lead to him snapping and setting his rage upon everyone else. The true danger of this happening is not for years, so thus instead of sending you to Konoha where they are at peace and a lone survivor of a bloodline they've never heard of would be suspicious, I've set you on the path so that your first interaction will be at a pivotal point in his life. You must make contact with him and help to guide him on a hero's path until such a point where he is committed to it himself and your disappearance will not undo all your work._

_Now you haven't much time until the people you need to meet will arrive. You are going to be picked up by a nukenin, or missing-nin. These are ninja whom have either been banished or abandoned their village. This particular one is named Zabuza Momochi, aka 'The Demon of the Hidden Mist.' He earned his name when, during his ninja academy graduation test, he not only defeated his classmates in the graduating death match, but slaughtered them. He is also an ex-member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, carrying a huge sword. I tell you this about him, because no citizen of Kiri does not know this, thus it would be trouble if you didn't. While he is ruthless, it was only when following orders, or for survival. Even his slaughter of classmates, was because Kiri had enacted a graduating exam that meant only the last member standing after an all-out death match would graduate. He is secretly a good man and cares for a girl already traveling with him, whom he saved from a similar situation in which you have 'found yourself in.' I will not tell you more, as she is neither famous, nor infamous thus it would be odd if you knew of her. Before you worry about communicating with them, that kiss I gave you wasn't just because you are cute when you are confused. Using it, I was able to enact my powers from within your body allowing for a greater effect. I was able to make your body 8 again as you already know, I was also able to create a way for you to use your magic and magical core as one would chakra. There will be no difference between you performing a technique and someone of this universe. However when you return and try to cast a spell using your wand, you might be surprised. I say return as I have taken your wand, next time you deal with death cover all your bases. Also by kissing you I was able to improve your eyesight so that you will not need glasses for anything but reading, I also implanted an 8yr old's knowledge of their language and culture within your mind. You are at no more disadvantage than any other war-orphan your age. Now when you are finished this letter will cause a small explosion, before you panic you will not die. This is the last way in which I can indirectly interfere with this place, because it's not my fault you read something given to you by someone who essentially threw you through a tree. After the explosion there will appear a scroll that will appear like ones in which clan members kept kekkei genkai jutsu, it will also cause the tree you are leaning against to fall in such a way that it will cause your guests to stop in your clearing._

_I wish you luck, and look forward to rubbing it in the other gods face that you will succeed._

_I will be watching,_

_The cutest Death around._

It took Harry a little bit to process that his entire fall, panic attack, and then spot to rest had been foreseen by Death. While he was absorbing all of the information she had given him, he remembered one tidbit that freaked him out.

"What does she mean explosio" *BOOM* was all he was able to get out before the letter went off and he was followed into unconsciousness by the searing pain of a bomb going off.

****Que Alan West's Batman Transition****

Zabuza Momochi had just finished dispatching a small unit of the Mizukage's bloodline hunters, while protecting his adoptive daughter. While he would never tell Haku that, over the past year, he had come to genuinely care for her. Thus when the Hunter-nin had recognized him as a kiri nukenin and her as a bloodline carrier he had taken offence to their attempts on their lives. Now he was calmly jumping from tree to tree, slightly behind Haku as she had just learned the skill, when they arrived at a clearing without a tree close enough to continue their arboreal run.

After landing in the clearing, Zabuza realized that the squad he had just dealt with hadn't been sent for him, but rather just was unlucky enough to encounter him. The clearing was a disaster with craters and blood everywhere. The first thing he noticed was the headless corpse of a middle aged man; the next thing was a fallen tree which had a slightly smoldering scroll next to it. The scroll wasn't burnt, nor on fire, just slightly singed. In respect for, what appeared to be, a civilian from a clan with a bloodline he prepared a simple burial mound. Telling Haku to retrieve to scroll he began to search for the man's head. Just as he found him he heard his apprentice call his name.

"Zabuza-sama come quick" she called.

Fearing that he had missed an enemy he instantly appeared by her side, when he got there he almost wished it had been an enemy. For what he found was that pinned to the ground by the fallen tree, was the body of a small boy whom had fallen with his hand reached out, almost as if reaching for what he assumed was his father. Once more cursing the Mizukage for his heartless troops he set himself in motion.

"Haku, when I lift the tree I want you to slide him out" he ordered. Upon completing said task, he continued "Grab the scroll we will bury it with the boy and his father."

However when he laid the child next to his father, something he did not expect occurred.

"Ugh, dad" the child groaned without regaining awareness.

Mentally slapping himself for not checking if the child was in fact dead, he set him down and had Haku help check him out with what little medical knowledge he had. Concluding their check they realized that other than a few cracked ribs, a sprained ankle, and some mild burns; the kid was fine save for the few scratches he had. Zabuza concluded that the child had been blown away by a jutsu and arrived in time to be caught by something which sent him careening into the tree. When he struck it, it must have caused him to drop the scroll he was carrying. The enemy must have then used an explosion, or explosive jutsu to cause the tree to fall effectively pinning the boy to the ground ensuring he wouldn't interfere with whatever bloodline he might have. He was then probably forced to watch helplessly as his father was executed and then left to the wolves. If they hadn't stopped they boy would've died within the week. It was no telling exactly how long he had been here, but it had obviously been enough time for the adrenaline to run out and the boy to succumb to exhaustion.

"Haku open the scroll and read the name, maybe he has other family left" he mused.

"I am sorry Zabuza-sama, that section of the scroll is burned at that section, all I can tell is that his family had the Emerarudo no Kaminari bloodline" she answered.

"Hmm I've never heard of that bloodline, but that complicates matters." he mused, as he looked down at the small child. "What should we do with you?" he questioned himself.

"Why not take him with us Zabuza-sama?" Haku responded.

Zabuza considered the option, while it would mean that in the short term he would have to heal the lad's injuries, it also meant they would be a slightly larger group, making hiding from hunter-nin more difficult. On the other hand, he would have another ninja he could train, thus making them more formidable. Said ninja would also possess a bloodline that if he read the situation correctly, would be assumed dead. But probably the biggest seller was that it would give Haku someone her own age to be around. Perhaps he would bring her out of her shell.

"Close the scroll Haku," he began, "while I am burying his father, see about healing as many of his injuries as you can."

"As you command Zabuza-sama" she acknowledged.

****Scene Change****

Harry felt better as he woke up. Actually it almost felt as if he hadn't been injured in the first place. The only thing other than his memories that told him was the slight soreness in his chest.

"Ugh, what hit me?" he questioned aloud, not expecting an answer.

"Looked an awful lot like a tree, Gaki" a rough male voice answered, causing Harry to jump...and fall off of the cot he was currently resting in.

"Ow" he complained

"And that looked like the floor" the same voice answered in mirth.

"Thanks, I couldn't tell" Harry answered. While he picked himself up to look at his apparent rescuer.

"You're Zabuza Momochi" he stated more than questioned.

"I see even you have heard of me" Zabuza said with some pride.

"Yeah, my dad always warned me about which people I was supposed to run away from if I ever met them" Harry explained trying to create his backstory on the fly.

"Oh, well you don't look like you're trying awful hard to get away" Zabuza responded with a raised brow.

"Well last thing I remember is a tree falling on me, so you must have saved me, which means either you aren't as bad as they say, or you just didn't feel like killing me" Harry answered, before cursing himself about how much maturity was in that statement.

"You know you quite mature for a kid your age" observed the former swordsman.

"Yeah well that's what happens when you grow up as one of the last 2 members of your clan" Harry defended with false indignation.

"Speaking of clans, what was yours?" He questioned

"I'm unsure about who the rest were, my dad always told me that he would explain our origins when I was older. All I know is that we were Pottā. My dad was Pottā Jēmuzu, and I am Pottā Harī" Harry answered.

"Hmm I've never heard of a ninja clan with that name" mused Zabuza.

"Probably because my dad was from a civilian clan" Harry stated.

For some reason this caused their, until now, silent companion to become enraged.

"Than your family stole this scroll from another clan!" the girl exclaimed in anger.

"We didn't steal anything, I've always had that scroll" Harry defended, which was true, he always had that scroll since it came to exist.

"Then where did it come from?" she demanded.

"If you must know it was my mother's" Harry exclaimed hotly while trying to think on the fly.

"Your mother's" Zabuza queried trying to cut off the argument.

"Yeah, my dad told me she came from a ninja clan in a different country." Harry answered, while trying to think of a plausible answer.

"Which village?" Haku demanded to know.

"I don't know," he started, but at her look continued, "He always told me that it was destroyed in the war, and we were the only survivors. He was going to tell me more when I started training" Harry ended with a sad look.

Apparently he succeeded in playing on their sympathies as the girl immediately looked saddened and regretful over both his words and her own.

"I apologize, it was not my place to insinuate that you had stolen this without getting all the facts" she apologized.

"Can you tell me what clan she was from?" Zabuza asked after everyone had calmed down.

"I never knew, the scroll was supposed to tell me when I started learning" Harry responded.

"How about which village she came from?" at his look Zabuza explained, "Because the part with the clan name was burned off. All that's left was the clan symbol."

"Really? What does it look like?" Harry questioned. When they handed him the scroll so he could see it, he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or groan and Death's sense of humor. For inscribed on the scroll where his supposed clan's symbol was, was the symbol of the Deathly Hallows; a circle within a triangle, bisected by a line. Except it wasn't the line, which represented the Elder Wand, was replaced by a bolt of lightning which looked like his scar.

"So I know who Zabuza is, but who are you?" Harry questioned of the girl.

"Gomen, I am Yuki Haku" she stated with a short bow.

"Nice to meet you, so now that we all know each other what happens from here?" Harry asked.

"Well we were staying until you woke up, so that we could figure out if you had any family left. Since it appears you don't what happens next is up to you" Zabuza answered.

"Up to me?" Harry inquired with a raised brow.

"Hai, I've asked Zabuza-sama and he's agreed, if you want to you can travel with us to train and aid Zabuza-sama in his goal" Haku explained.

"And why would you, the 'Demon of the hidden mist' want me to come with you?" Harry asked with no small amount of skepticism.

"Well for starters it would give me and Haku another ally in case we run into issues in the future. Likewise since, as far as you know, there are no members of your clan left it would give us the element of surprise with your bloodline. Finally it would give me another male to talk too, and someone Haku's age for her to associate with" Zabuza answered trying to make the last bit appear as an afterthought. But Harry saw that this was the real reason he wanted him along, before Harry could answer Zabuza interrupted with, "besides where else would you go?"

"You're right, I've nowhere else to go, so I guess you're stuck with me" Harry answered with a roguish grin causing Haku to blush a bit.

"Great, as soon as you're healed I will begin teaching the basics. Hopefully by the end of the week we will be able to move out" Zabuza stated.

"Arigatō Zabuza-sensei, and also for letting me stay at your home" Harry thanked him.

"No need to thank me, this isn't my house" Zabuza said as he left.

"Then arigatō Haku-san for letting me stay here" Harry directed towards the girl.

"Oh this isn't my house either, we just found it and let ourselves in" she corrected as she went after Zabuza.

That left Harry to deal with the concept of ninja just commandeering someone else's home. For some reason, he didn't think it would be the last time this occurred. He then realized that he was going to be trained by Zabuza, the same Zabuza that became a ninja by killing all of the other students.

"This is going to suck" Harry stated to himself as he plopped back down on the bed in order to rest from his entrance into this world.


	3. Chapter 3

****Chapter 3: Objective in sight****

It has been 5 years since he had arrived in this universe. 5 years of following orders from Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the hidden mist. It had also been 5 years since he had met his surrogate sister. It had been 5 years since he had become a ninja. It had been a long 5 years. Harry Potter was once again 13yrs old. You would think he would've developed more than he had in his home world, but other than more muscle mass, another 2 inches in height, and his need for glasses limited to reading; he looked just like he did when he was 13 last time.

In those five years Harry had come to accept his identity of Harī. Harry was a wizard that had learned the same thing as all of his classmates. Harry survived mainly through luck and the deeds of others. Harry was helpless throughout his childhood. But mostly Harry believed in the power of love and giving others a second chance.

Harī, on the other hand, was taught ninja techniques from one of the most feared nuke-nins in the bingo book. Harī had survived through his own doing. Harī had protected not only himself, but his 'sister' throughout their lives. Harī believed in power through hard work and determination. Most importantly, Harī wasn't alone.

You would think being raised as he was, that Harī was a cold-blooded killer, but you would be wrong. Despite traveling, learning from, and living with an A-ranked nukenin, Harī had only killed once. That one time was when another rogue ninja had correctly assumed Haku was a girl. That night the ninja had gathered some accomplices and gotten the drop on their group while in camp. The ninja had waited for them all to regain consciousness before boldly proclaiming that he would turn in Zabuza's head and keep Haku as a slave. But first he wanted them to watch as he broke her to his will. Harī was sad to admit that it had taken him until they had her completely disrobed before he was able to break free of his bonds. Lacking a weapon at the time he had taken the one of the closest guard. It had turned out to be a set of artificial knuckles made from chakra metal. Weapon in hand he had forced chakra to his legs before leaping at the ring leader. As he approached he had gathered chakra from his bloodline into the knuckles, causing them to crackle with emerald lightning. The punch that had connected had been so supercharged with lightning, that it flash fried his brains. On that date Harī made his first kill, on that day Harī entered the bingo books as a D-rank threat. Lacking a name the survivors had bestowed upon him the title of 'Raiden' after the thunder god.

Harī no longer had that particular set of knuckles any longer, having needed a pair that was more tailored to his hand. He now had 4 sets, 2 for each hand. All were made from chakra metal, the difference was that one pair of knuckles was unmodified, where the other sported spikes at the end of each knuckle. The set that he stole from the thug now rested on a chain hanging from Haku's neck. When she discovered his intention to get rid of them she had asked to keep them, when he inquired as to the reason she had stated, "so that whenever I feel alone I can look down and know that someone cares." That had marked the deepening of their relationship from friends and teammates, to the sibling that neither had before. It was shortly after this that Haku stopped seeing herself as a tool, but as a person.

Currently the group was on their way to kill a man named Tazuna. They had been contracted for this job by Gato of Gato Shipping, Inc. Apparently the man was a threat to Gato's business with in The land of Waves. While one may think the mission would be easy, apparently Tazuna has hired some protection in the form of a team of ninja from Konoha. The entire group had wanted to see to this personally; Zabuza to test his strength against whomever it was, Haku to see how one man could be such a threat to one such as Gato, and Harī in the hopes of finally encountering his objective for being in this place.

"Stop, we'll set our ambush here" Zabuza ordered. "Harī make the mist, Haku position your rabbit just in case. I'm going to scout them out" he delegated

"Hai Zabuza-sensei" they chorused.

With a few hand signs and a "Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu," the area was blanketed by a fog thick enough to limit your visibility to 5 feet around you. Once Haku had released her pet rabbit, and Zabuza had moved into position the ambush was set. They were ready for their prey.

****Time Passes****

It seemed like it had been hours, when in reality only about 15mins had passed before they heard the sounds of a group of people walking down the road. Harī was honestly thankful for the distraction, because there are only so many times you can play rock, paper, scissors without getting bored. Shortly after the group approached, Haku's rabbit was replaced with Zabuza.

"Zabuza-sensei are you okay? Will Mr. Tibbles be alright?" Haku immediately asked, causing both to sweat-drop. Not over the questions, mind you, but over the rabbit's name. For having such an innocent sounding name, that rabbit was probably the most vicious member of their group. It would only allow Haku to feed and care for it, and it once mauled a thief who attempted to steal their things, but had accidentally taken the rabbit's cage.

"One of the brats must've heard me, because they launched a kunai right at my head" at her look he quickly continued. "Don't worry; it was too high up to be of any danger to your rabbit."

"That's a relief, so what are we dealing with Zabuza-sensei?" Haku questioned.

"It appears that our target has hired a genin team to protect him. There are 3 brats, plus their jonin sensei. He is the one that can cause the most trouble" Zabuza explained.

"How so Zabuza-sensei?" Harī asked.

"It's Sharingan no Kakashi" was Zabuza's answer.

That brought them up short. Sharingan no Kakashi was not a ninja to be trifled with. As the only surviving student of the Yondaime Hokage, he was one of the best ninja's in the leaf. Adding to that, he was rumored to have copied over 1000 jutsus with his sharingan. This changed the game, for surely any ninja team trained by him would be formidable.

"What's the plan Zabuza-sensei?" Harī asked once he recovered from his shock.

"I want to test myself against him" was the unexpected response. "Before you get worried, this appears to be the Gaki's first C-rank mission thus they pose no real threat. So we are going with plan 'Hunter.'"

Plan 'Hunter' was one thought of by Haku that they had put to use innumerable times. The plan was simple, using a couple of Kiri Hunter-nin masks that had been salvaged from a real squad that had encountered them; they would wait while Zabuza had his fun. If at any point he gave them the signal, or appeared to be in a life threatening situation, two 'Hunter-nin' would arrive, incapacitating Zabuza. The ninja would then thank whoever had been Zabuza's opponent for making their job easier before leaving with the body to supposedly return to Kiri.

"Hai Zabuza-sensei" they answered. "What's the signal this time?" Harī questioned before he left.

"No signal, only interfere if I am about to be captured or killed" he answered before hefting his sword and throwing it at the approaching ninja. It was only after they heard a scream of, "EVERYBODY DOWN!," that Zabuza body flickered to where his sword was.

"So how long do you think it will take him?" Harī asked of his companion.

"Hmm if he plays with them like usual, 5 minutes." she answered.

"Willing to bet on it?" he teased.

"What are the stakes?"

"The usual, loser gets laundry duty."

"Agreed." she acknowledged.

As they bantered they observed the battle between their sensei, and the sharingan warrior below. It was one of the more interesting fights they had watched. It appeared that the sharingan gave the leaf-nin the ability to copy their teacher's techniques.

"Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu!"

"Well looks like you're stuck with laundry duty" she replied a little too brightly for his tastes.

"Time's not up yet, he hasn't killed them yet" Harī argued.

"Oh come on, be a man and admit you lost" she retorted.

"The bet was…" "Ninja Art: Shadow Clone Jutsu!" He started before, being interrupted by one of the genin. They both watched in amazement as someone their age used a jonin level technique, and had the chakra to create almost a hundred clones.

"That's not possible," Haku started, "no one our age should have the chakra necessary to create that many clones." She finished with a stunned tone.

Before he could reply, he remembered something from the letter he read so long ago, '_While he was able to seal the Kyuubi, he was forced to seal it into his son, Naruto. Naruto is still living in Konoha._' With the realization that this may be the person he was sent to help, he became much more interested in the fight.

"Haku be ready, something is different about the blond one." Harī stated.

"What do you mean?" She questioned looking at her raven-haired brother in all but blood.

"It's like you said, no one our age should have that amount of chakra. However, we can clearly see that he does, so we are missing some information." Harry explained. "If we lacked this information what else could we have missed?"

"Demon Wind Shuriken: Windmill of Shadows!"

"Do they honestly think that will destroy Zabuza's clone?" Haku questioned regaining some of her earlier amusement.

"They aren't aiming for the clone." Harī stated. Sure enough the shuriken veered around the clone heading for the real Zabuza who was still holding Kakashi in his prison. Just when the shuriken looked to strike Zabuza he simply caught it, what neither he, nor his students expected, was for there to be another shuriken hidden beneath the original.

"The shadow shuriken jutsu, it seems that Kakashi has trained his brats somewhat." Harī stated.

"I wonder what Zabuza-sensei will do now?" Haku questioned as she prepared to intervene just in case.

"The simplest solution" Harī answered not at all worried that his teacher couldn't dodge such an attack. Sure enough, Zabuza simply jumped over the second weapon. However, no one expected it to be revealed as the blond ninja in a henge. He then proceeded to throw a kunai at Zabuza forcing him to dodge away, thus releasing Kakashi.

"I find myself impressed at their teamwork." Haku stated.

"I agree, to come up with a plan and execute it against a superior enemy without communicating to one another. The leaf is not the strongest ninja village for nothing." Harry concurred.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"

"It appears that the sharingan not only copies their enemy's jutsu, but predict them as well." Harī observed. "If that's the case, then this fight just got a lot more difficult."

"Do you think Zabuza-sensei can still win?" was Haku's hesitant question.

"I think that.." "Water Style: Giant Vortex Jutsu!" He was interrupted by the sight of Zabuza being blown away. He could only watch in morbid fascination, as one of Zabuza's most powerful techniques, was used against him. It was only as Zabuza was pinned to a tree that they snapped out of their stupor.

"Haku, move!" Harī snapped out.

**** Scene Change****

"Can you see the future?" Zabuza asked fearfully.

"Yes, you die!" Kakashi declared. However, just as he was about to finish the job, two senbon needles lodged themselves in his opponent's neck. Fearing a follow-up attack, Kakashi retreated towards his students. When he looked around the source of the needles was easily discovered. There standing on a nearby tree branch, was a couple of hunter-nin. Before he could prepare an attack the first one spoke.

"We thank you for your assistance in capturing this nukenin." Was the statement from an apparently male ninja.

"Yes, he has been a most difficult objective to follow." Chimed in the other ninja, in a voice which could've belonged to either sex.

"We apologize on the behalf of the rest of Kiri for the trouble he has caused you." The ninja continued as the decidedly male one hefted Zabuza's body over his shoulder.

"Yes, we are sorry if he has interrupted your mission." The male spoke.

Sensing that something was amiss, Kakashi cautiously approached the 2 ninja. As he approached he took a minute to take in their features. Neither looked older than Naruto, who was the oldest of his team. Both wore the traditional pinstriped Kiri hunter-nin outfit. The rather androgynous ninja also wore a green haori with white trimmings and a brown sash around their waist. The male ninja whom was holding Zabuza was wearing a black haori with emerald trimmings and an emerald sash. Both wore hunter-nin masks with Kirigakure's symbol on it. They were both white, but contained different designs. The male's had what appeared to be a green lightning bolt streaking from above where his right eye would be, towards the lower left side of his jaw. The other's had a red wavy design where their mouth would've been.

Kakashi's sharp eye also noticed the other more unique things about their appearance. The male had shoulder length unruly black hair, a build which suggested speed over power, wore black shinobi sandals, was slightly taller that the other hunter-nin, and had bandages wrapped around his knuckles like most taijutsu specialists did. The other had its hair up in a bun hiding it true length, but allowed 2 long bangs to hang down framing the face. They wore normal sandals with brown straps, and a single set of artificial knuckles hung from their neck like a pendant.

"Before you leave, I would be remiss of my duty if I didn't check that he was actually dead." He informed them while observing their body language. Thought they tensed when we began approaching, they appeared to relax after he was done.

"Of course Leaf-san." The shorter hunter-nin replied, while motioning for the other to stand down. When he checked he found no pulse. Satisfied that it wasn't a trick, he told the hunter-nin that they were free to go. It would only be later that he would realize that the hunter-nin didn't follow protocol by disposing of all but the head, before sealing it away and returning to base. Unfortunately that revelation would be later, as the minute he tucked away his sharingan, his chakra exhaustion hit him like a rockslide.

"Ugh" *THUD* "Kakashi-sensei!"

"You two," Tazuna began pointing at Sasuke and Naruto. "Carry him, my house is only a few minutes away, we can rest once we are there."

****Scene Change****

"I can't believe Zabuza-sensei lost." Haku stated as they jumped through the forest towards their temporary base.

"That sharingan is an amazing trump card; we will have to watch out for it next time." Harī rationalized.

"I will have to think of a way to get around it." She stated.

"We will also have to train so that we can quickly defeat the genin so that all three of us can focus on Kakashi." Harī interjected.

"I just realized something." Harī said after a few moments of silence.

"What?" She asked, not even bothering to look his direction as they jumped through the forest.

"You lost the bet." He smugly replied causing her to stumble a bit.

"But he would've won if the genin hadn't interfered." She protested.

"Doesn't matter, you still lost." He sing-songed. This sparked an argument which lasted all the way back to the base.

****At the Batcave, errr I mean base a couple of days later.****

The base wasn't all that impressive. They were currently staying in, what amounted too, the gardener's shed on the property the Gato 'acquired.' It seems that whomever used to live on the property before Gato cared enough for the environment around his home ("or rather how it reflected on him," Harry thought) that he had hired a live in gardener. The shed consisted of a room for the gardening supplies, a bathroom, a living room with kitchenette, and a bedroom. It was for all purposes a small house. Harry couldn't help but feel that Sirius would say it was 'the perfect bachelor pad.'

Currently we find our trio in the room which once held the gardening tools. Except now it was home to a small cot, a work bench, spare ninja tools, and a few herbs in pots. Normally this is where Harī slept as he was the least inconvenienced by it, having slept in a cupboard for 11 years. However now his cot was occupied as Harī and Haku worked to heal Zabuza as best they could.

_SNAP!_

"Okay that's the last of the easily fixed bones," Harī stated after setting Zabuza's leg with a sickening sound. "You can wake him now the rest of his injuries will take longer to heal."

With a nod of her head Haku pulled the senbon out of the swordsman's neck with great precision. Though she was fast, Haku couldn't get the bandage on the wound before a bit of blood spurted out with great pressure. Harī couldn't help but think it was slightly wrong for a girl to get sprayed by blood and not flinch at it. Oh he knew she would complain about how hard it was to get the stain out of her clothes, but that would be her only issue. Over the years, the inclusion of Harī had changed the group dynamic from a ninja and his tool to that of a teacher and his students. There were even times when it was closer to that of a small family. Shaking the thoughts from his head, Harī helped Haku with the rest of the wounds.

"Ugh, what the hell happened?" Zabuza groaned as he returned to the waking world.

"Got your ass kicked, that's what." Harī answered without missing a beat. This earned him a glare from Zabuza and a withering stare from Haku.

Just as Zabuza was about to remind Harī what he felt his place was, the door was kicked in. Through the now broken doorway walked two men carrying katanas at their waists. They were samurai, unlike the samurai of ancient Japan in his home world; these samurai were just bandits with a sword. In his home world samurai were once seen as the most honorable Japanese warrior, so much so that modern Japanese military officers still carried functional blades into battle. But these samurai held the unmistakable look of greed and a hunger for power; they were thugs that would do anything for some money. But the thugs-with-a-blade was not what drew their focus. No what they were staring at was the 5 foot tall midget that walked in yelling at the top of his lungs.

"ZABUZA! WHAT'S THIS I HEAR ABOUT YOU FAILING TO KILL THE BRIDGE BUILDER!" the midget known as Gato demanded.

"He wasn't alone; he has hired a genin team from Konoha." Harī responded for his teacher.

"You all were defeated by kids! What happened to the 'Demon of the Mist'? What happened to 'Raiden'?" Gato questioned.

"We were not defeated by children," Haku calmly interjected. "Neither Harī or myself engaged the team, and if their Jonin instructor was not who he was, Zabuza-sensei would've already completed the mission."

"Oh and who was this all powerful Jonin that could defeat an A-rank missing-nin so easily?" Gato sneered.

"I didn't make it easy for him, and I doubt he will be combat ready anytime soon." Zabuza defended himself from the idiot that dare make him sound weak. "But even you might recognize who he is. He is the Son of Konoha's legendary 'White Fang' and the student of their Fourth Hokage." Zabuza explained.

"You mean to tell me that the ninja who did this to you was 'Sharingan no Kakashi'?" Gato asked, after he realized what ninja fit the description.

"Yes, and Zabuza-sensei almost defeated him so if I were you I would show Zabuza-sensei the respect he deserves." Harī told Gato.

"Insolent child, you are nothing but rogue ninja, I show you more respect then I should. If I wanted to have you killed and let my men have fun with the bitch over their then I would be showing you the respect you've earned." Gato stated the last in a mocking tone. "In fact I may do just that, so come here girl or else I will kill your teacher and teammate." Gato ordered as he reached for Haku.

_CRACK!_

"YOU BITCH! YOU BROKE MY ARM!" Gato yelled in pain.

"That will teach you to take what isn't yours." Haku calm stated. "Before you order your goons to try and kill me, remember that me and Harī are ninja. You should also remember that even if you succeed than you will have to find someone else to go after the bridge builder."

"You'll regret this you little bitch!" Gato snarled.

"I doubt it, now leave us and don't bother us again." Harī gave his input.

As the angry midget left Harī and Haku turned their attention back to healing their sensei.

"How long until I am fully healed?" He questioned.

"There are some herbs nearby that should help you be up by the end of the week." Haku answered.

"How long have I been out?" He continued.

"Only a couple of days." Harī replied.

"Have you been keeping an eye on Kakashi and his brats?"

"Sorry no, we've been working non-stop to heal all of your injuries." Haku fielded this question.

"Fine, but from now on I want Harī to observe them while Haku helps me get back on my feet." Zabuza ordered.

"Hai Zabuza-sensei." Harī and Haku replied.

"Now Haku you said you needed some herbs to help get me back on my feet, so you should go and get those. Harī go with her and help get them so she can be done faster, and then start observing our opponents. When you're done I want to know everything about them; what jutsu they know? how their chakra control is? what their specialty is? if they wear boxers or briefs? I want to know everything." Zabuza expanded on his orders.

"Hai" they both shouted before departing the room. With a quick conversation, both teens were heading the clearing that held the herbs they needed; and, unknown to them, a certain orange clad ninja.

****At Castle Greyskull, crap wrong line****

They arrived at the clearing, and noted that there were plenty of herbs for Zabuza. Thus they began collecting their items while making idle conversation. They discussed things any normal set of siblings would; things like books they've read, favorite places they've been, dreams they had, and new jutsus they had thought of or wanted to learn. Okay maybe the last one seems odd to you, but in a world filled with ninja it was perfectly acceptable. They were about three quarters of the way done when they saw him. There lying underneath a tree was the orange clad genin, fast asleep. The tree looked like it had seen better days, but then anything with multiple cuts interspaced with spots where the bark had been blown off would look bad.

"Isn't that one of the gaki's that Kakashi is teaching?" Harī asked of his companion.

"I think so, how should we do this?" Haku began, "the usual method?"

"Clueless civilian? Which one; on your own, with your brother, or with your boyfriend?" Harī attempted to clarify.

"I think I might do this on my own, however you can watch from cover in case he tries something." She answered.

"Going to kill him?" He couldn't help but ask.

"No, he's just a kid. I'll try and get some information on him, and you can follow him back to the others." She responded.

"Drop your basket 'by accident' if you want me to move in." Harī stated with implied quotes around the 'by accident' part.

With a nod and a hand sign Haku was off. Why the hand sign you ask, simply so that she could transform or 'henge' into her normal attire for this routine. You might wonder how this was in anyway routine, but you would be surprised by how much information a seemingly harmless girl collect flowers with or without her brother or boyfriend could gather. Once the smoke cleared we see her in a pale pink kimono along with simple sandals and a chocker bearing a blue snowflake with a green lightning bolt. As Haku moved towards the genin, Harī had taken roost in a tree on the other end of the clearing. Accessing his metamorphmagus powers, or as Haku called it his 'keijixyouga shifuto' or literally shape shifting, Harī changed his skin tone to match the bark of the tree and altered his hair to be a similar color to the moss growing along the tree limb.

Harī observed as Haku played the part of innocent civilian. She approached the clearing stopping here and there to pick some of the herbs needed for Zabuza's recovery. Once she was sure the boy was actually sleeping, rather than playing possum, she walked toward him. While she was doing this, Harī had stealthily maneuvered himself to a closer tree so that he could listen to the conversation. Once Haku was within arm's length she gently woke the orange clad ninja. What preceded this was Haku getting his help for collecting her herbs for her sick 'uncle' while acting star struck over meeting a 'real strong ninja.' While amused at the way she played the boy like a string instrument, Harī applauded her information gathering skills. Through their conversation they were able to learn that Kakashi had just begun training his students in tree walking and that they were staying with the bridge builder.

Though conversation is a two way street, and rather than completely fabricate a backstory she would need to remember if ever approached by him again, Haku told the boy a fairly redacted version of her past. Being 'adopted' by her 'uncle' and traveling with him and her 'brother.' That her belief was that you are at your strongest when protecting loved ones. Things that were all inherently true, but lacking the crucial things like who they actually were. And while she used Harī real name when talking about him to the boy, she avoided mentioning Zabuza's name.

The real surprise was when the boy's identity was revealed. Harī had been correct in his guess, this was the Naruto he was sent here to aid. So surprised was he, he failed to react when Haku ended the interaction the way she always did. She would happily lie to their face and tell them in not exact word, "by the way, I'm a boy." The reactions were always priceless, but it was something Haku had starting doing ever since the incident that but Harī in the bingo book had happened. Haku than leisurely strolled out of the clearing leaving a dumb struck Naruto and a calculating Harī. Unknown to Naruto, Haku would walk until she was out of sight and then release her henge and hide herself while waiting for Harī.

It took nearly five minutes before the boy had collected himself enough to return to his dwelling. Once he knew he wouldn't be seen, Harī quickly returned to Haku's side after altering his looks back to his default state. Once at her side, Harī had Haku create a water clone while he did the same. You may wonder why Harī needed two clones, or why he didn't simply create both himself? The answer to the latter was because the jutsu was extremely taxing to Harī since water was not his element, and while he could do some jutsu as mandated simply because of his location and sensei, he couldn't go above a C-class jutsu. The former is so that Harī could have a clone tail Naruto, but also have one return to show the real him the way there.

"Did you hear everything?" Haku questioned.

"For the most part, yeah. What I'm most surprised by is that Hatake is just now teaching them tree walking" Harī answered.

"It does seem irresponsible, but we only have our life to compare it too, Konoha is in a peaceful time meaning they can focus on the more arbitrary things that make their shinobi great later on, like team work" Haku surmised.

"I suppose, what impression did he leave you with?"

"He seemed like a genuinely nice kid, a little loud, but overall sincere in his desire to better himself for his loved ones and village. I hope he stays out of conflict coming up."

"Anything on Hatake or the other kids?"

"Hatake sounds like he will be up in a few days, but Naruto didn't divulge anything of use about the other two."

The two were interrupted by Haku's clone landing on the tree next to them and informing them that their clones had followed Naruto back to a house less than a kilometer from their current location. Startled that they had unknowingly been so close to the enemy without realizing it, they went into motion. A quick hug and a whispered 'Be careful' from the real Haku and they separated; Haku towards their sensei and Harī following her clone to the house. Once there Harī dispelled both clones with a chop to the back of the head and settled in for a long stake out.

****Time Skip****

That had been a few days ago. Every four hours Harī would send a water clone with his observations to his maximum range towards their base. He was just lucky that his maximum range from the bridge builder's house overlapped with Haku's more significant range from the hideout. Their clones would meet, exchange information, and then return to report to their creators. Today however Harī had returned to the base as Zabuza was healed.

"What did you learn?" Zabuza questioned in short order.

"Hi Zabuza-sensei, glad to see you're better. I'm doing okay thanks for asking" Harī sarcastically responded; earning an eye-twitch from his sensei and a giggle from the only female present.

"Yes, hi gaki whatever. My question stands" Zabuza repeated.

"Hatake seems to be better, and has finished training his students in the tree walking exercise. Naruto, the orange one, and the dark-haired one seemed to have the most difficulty. The girl mastered it the fastest, but seems to have the least amount of chakra if her exhaustion is any indication" Harī reported.

"Threat assessment?" Zabuza continued.

"Minimal, while the dark-haired one seems the most confident he is nothing we can't handle. Naruto is about on par, if perhaps a little less of a threat. Finally the girl can easily be handled by a water clone if our Killing Intent alone doesn't cause her to pass out" Harī gave his lack-luster assessment of Team 7.

"Good, get some rest because tomorrow we will finish this" Zabuza commanded.

"Hai Zabuza-sensei" Harī and Haku responded, before separating to their designated sleeping areas.

'Finally, I'll meet my objective' Harry Potter thought before succumbing to sleep.

****Wipe Transition****

The next day our motley crew stood hidden on the bridge. Upon arriving Harī had quickly knocked out all the workers. They had been on the bridge for fifteen minutes before Zabuza called his students to attention.

"I sense one large chakra signature, a small one, and two civilian level signatures with one being slightly higher" Zabuza stated.

"Haku care to do the honors?" Harī prompted

"Ninja Art: Hidden Mist Jutsu!" Haku proclaimed, causing a thick mist to overcome the bridge.

It took about five minutes before the group reached the bridge, and there was no hiding that fact.

"Kakashi-Sensei look!" yelled a feminine voice.

"That's the pink haired girl, forgot to warn you about the lungs on her" Harī commented.

"Let's see how they deal with this, Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu" Zabuza incanted, causing four water clones to appear. Within a beat they were gone to surround the new comers.

"Sasuke, Sakura get ready!" Hatake commanded.

"Hmm I wonder where Naruto is?" Haku mused.

"If Kakashi has any sense, he left the kid to guard the bridge builder's family" Zabuza began, "shall we get a front seat to the action?"

Following that statement the three disappeared only to appear just out of view of the genin. From their vantage point they watched Zabuza's clones taunt the Leaf-nin. What happened next was quite a surprise.

"Sasuke Go!" and with that command the dark haired genin lashed out destroying all four doppelgangers.

"Hmm looks like you two have a rival in speed" Zabuza thought aloud.

"We'll see about that" Haku commented before dashing at the one known as Sasuke.

"Guys that leaves the girl for me" Harī stated before he drew a kunai and blurred into motion. Just as he was about to strike the girl, he was intercepted by Kakashi.

"Now you should know it's not nice to hit girls" he commented blocking Harī's kunai with one of his own.

"You should watch your own opponent" Zabuza replied mid swing; forcing Hatake to push off of Harī sending both stumbling back avoiding the swing.

"Now I don't see why you both can't be my opponent" Kakashi rebuked in a light tone as he brought his hands up into a cross formation "Ninja art: Shadow Clone Jutsu!" A poof of smoke later and two Sharingan no Kakashi's stared at the teacher-student duo. After a brief moment, the original Leaf Jonin sprang into action and the battle was on.

"Fire Style: Grand Fireball Jutsu" a ball of flame nearly twice the size of a hippogriff was launched at Zabuza and Harī, forcing them to dodge in separate directions. The Battle of The Bridge had begun.

**** Sharingan no Kakashi vs Raiden****

Harī barely had time to breath before he was blocking a stab from the clone of Kakashi. Even as a clone it took everything Harī had to hold back the kunai. Harī glared at Kakashi through his stolen ANBU mask, silently trying to kill him with just his eyes.

"While you are strong for your age, you are nowhere near ANBU level" the clone observed.

"Wouldn't you like to know" Harī rebuked. What happened next was so fast, a civilian would not have been able to see it. Harī doubted most genin would have; for one moment he was in a deadlock with the clone and the next his feet and been swept from under him, his mask had been ripped off, and he had taken a kick to the gut propelling him away from his opponent.

"Yes I would" Kakashi smugly responded.

"Argh, do you know how much it hurts to have something adhered with chakra ripped off" Harī exclaimed rubbing his face.

"Yes, yes I do" Kakashi answered while studying his opponent. His guess last time they met had proved to be accurate. His adversary seemed to be the same age as Naruto, while possessing hair the color of ink that laid upon his head in a messy fashion. He had an angular face with high cheek bones that gave him an almost noble look. But truly his most striking features where his eyes being a green to rival any emerald, and a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt above his right eye. Kakashi couldn't help but wonder why the boy seemed familiar.

With a growl Harī reached into his weapons pouch fastened on his hip, and retrieved his set of spiked knuckles. He stared down Kakashi with his mind running away with itself. 'He is only a clone, which means it should only take one or two good hits to dispel him. Problem is he still possesses all the skills of a jonin. My only saving grace is that as a clone, his chakra is limited so he shouldn't be able to use many jutsu' Harī thought as he studied his enemy. A breath later and both ninja disappeared.

When they reappeared Kakashi had drawn a second kunai and was holding back one of Harī's fists with each. Kakashi opted to break the stalemate with a knee to Harī's side, causing him to spring away to avoid the follow up slash. Harī charged in, but at the last moment jumped in order to try for a kick to the face. Only for Kakashi to grab his leg and toss him toward the ground; following it with a barrage of shuriken. Harī rapidly rolled away for fear of impalement. A quick hand spring later and he was back on his feet, the only evidence of what just transpired being the stars at his feet, the cuts in his clothes, and his shortness of breath. Kakashi's clone had no noticeable change.

'This might be harder than I thought' Harī surmised his situation.


End file.
